Whispers in the Wall
by Beta Genius
Summary: Ansem's reports explained a lot on how Heartless formed, and that they were acually the people who's hearts COMPLETELY collapsed. But what ever happened to the one's who's hearts didn't collapse completely? Chp. 8 up! LAST CHAPTER!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any Square related character. This is a Sephiroth story, so just keep in mind that Sora and Co. may not appear. Just get that good before this all starts.

The following is a reference for the future of this story, (just incase you may be wondering later on). These are Ansem's reports 2 and 3, if you couldn't tell already ^_^...

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Report 2

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It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments: Extract the darkness from a person's heart. Cultivate darkness in a pure heart. Both suppress and amplify the darkness within. The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle. Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness... What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?

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Report 3

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The shadows that crawl beneath the castle...Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination? All my knowledge has provided no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart. Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts...I will call them the Heartless.

(Alright, with that said, on with the story! Please review and tell me what you think!)

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Whispers in the Wall

Trudging through the dark and dank halls of the lower prisons, his boots echoed throughout the area, being all but the loud cries of the Heartless to be heard. With the dimly lighted torches around, which had been lit before by the guards for his entrance, he looked past the cell bars and to the creatures lying inside. Most were the normal; either small, single Heartless or the dirty, white-wrapped Heartless, but nothing really new. However, as he saw one of the cells empty, he stared closer into it, seeing it wasn't empty after all. His face twisted in disgust, kneeling to catch a good glace before he came to his first conclusion.

"Huh...They really messed up this time," he stated, reaching in a tilting the bent head.

This person, who ever she had been, was dead. Cold, lifeless, dead. It didn't even appear like her heart had been taken, but had just died for some unknown reason. The girl, looking about her mid-twenties, had matted black hair, falling over her blindfolded face. Her skin was ghostly pale, giving the indication that she was inert. She wore a tattered long-sleeved shirt that was a dark green and had sleeves that extended over her hands, with a pair of baggy black pants and no shoes on her feet. He just shook his head in almost pity, (but of course he had barely any to be classified as pity). Standing up, he was about to shout something, went shockingly he heard a laugh, a _human_ laugh, and looked back down. He stood back, seeing the smirking face gazing up at him.

"Don't bother," the girl said, the words coming from her dry throat and escaping through her cracked lips. "They can't hear where they are anyway."

"You're...alive?" he questioned, bewildered at the notion.

"I guess you could say that. I have a heartbeat, so I suppose that counts for something."

In his wonder, which never really happened, he reached forward, forcefully putting his gloved hand to her neck in trying to feel her pulse. Indeed he felt it, and in the moment he noticed one, he pulled away, knowing that she really was alive.

"Three hundred and fourteen..." she murmured to herself.

"What did you say?" he inquired, still in his unbelieving condition.

"Oh...Well you're the three hundred and fourteenth person to do that. Not really surprising why either."

He just stared, narrowing his eyes after a bit of thought. Shaking his head, he turned away, beginning to walk back. He didn't need to deal with this, and his own self-embarrassment was enough in thinking she had been dead. 'Let the guards handle it' he would say in his head. As he reached the entrance, his anger made his blood boil, grabbing one of the guards by the collar.

The guard just stuttered in fear, "Y-yes sir?"

"Someone is alive down there," he hissed.

"B-but that is impossible! N-no one w-would be alive if they were down there with the Heart-" he tried to argue, but only received a death gaze from him.

"Do you question my word, guard? I _said_ someone is _alive_, get it? These Heartless have not tasted the blood of the living at this waking moment just yet, and I would require them not to so they will be efficient in the arena. If they are starving, they shall thirst for more and in doing so will do anything to get it. Understand?"

The guard just nodded shortly, being dropped to the ground afterward. He scoffed in annoyance, thinking of how incompetent these people were. How _all_ these people were. If it were up to him to decide he would have all these foolish being eradicated, for they were no use to him. Even his servants were useless, and the one _running_ this place; it made him wonder how he ever took it over. The past owners must have been real weaklings to let someone like Hades gain power. And though he could overthrow him easily, he just didn't feel like running a world of his own, and would rather have others do it for him. He didn't care what happened to this place, and so long as he was obeyed in being the strongest warrior in this stadium, he'd just let things slip by and fight whatever came in his way.

Entering into the halls to his apartments, he could see the servants fumbling to get things in order, opening the doors for him and standing in a line incase he asked for something. Of course, as always, he didn't, waving a hand to dismiss them and landing his back on his bed as they quickly shut the door behind. Putting a hand on his head, he felt a major headache coming on, shaking his head while shutting his eyes. Maybe he should've just let that girl stay down there; then he wouldn't be so _bored_. He hadn't fought anything in so many months and it was driving him mad, stooping so low as to request contestants to be brought in. Feeling he was growing rusty, he sometimes faced against Heartless, but then again they were pathetic compared to him. Was this to be the remainder of his life? Waiting for some unlucky foe to come and fight him?

He turned his head to the window, hearing shouts emerge from it. Standing up, he walked over, looking out into the arena floor, where the door to the prison cells had been. His eyes widened as he saw what was unfolding, even wondering how this would turn out. Two of the guards lay lifeless, their hearts taken and swallowed, and the other two poor souls trying to ward off the horde attacking them. The Heartless just pored out of the prison doors like a swarm of locus, all rushing to consume their victims. He just smirked, knowing that he would be called upon sometime to beat off these masses, and his boredom would be avoided for at least a second.

In the corner of his eye he saw something move, turning his head away to face it. A shadowy figure leaned against the wall, seeming like it tried to stay out of the sunlight as much as it could, and made it's way into the halls of the Coliseum. He chuckled, taking the masamune that was against the wall and pulling it from its sheath, beginning to walk to the door. With this it opened wide, a servant running through.

"Master! The Hea-" the servant began, but was cut off shortly after.

"Yes, yes, I know. I shall take care of this mess," he stated, walking past and out into the halls.

When he came past a few corners out, he heard a painful cry, seeing a corpse of a guard being tossed aside like some doll and the Heartless twisting around and heading to his direction. Seeing that they were all just small, meaningless Heartless, he shrugged it off, preparing to strike as they came. He smirked, knowing that this one little serge of a battle would give him some incentive, calculating there were so many. But as they came, they suddenly stopped, all at the same time glancing up. Sephiroth, as he was known to be called, conscious that these Heartless weren't smart enough for a counterattack, gazed up at well, only to have feet being kicked into his face.

Stumbling back, he quickly gained balance, narrowing his eyes in anger to what did that. Straightening, he witnessed an enraged face of the girl from before, standing in a fighting stance with her eyes still blindfolded with a black strip of cloth. Oddly enough, the Heartless did _not_ attack her, even if they were attracted to living beings. Maybe her dead appearance meant something, but he didn't know...and really didn't care. He spit to the side, tasting a twinge of blood in his mouth, and raised his masamune up again, glaring.

With an unexpected grin, the girl waved her hand, the Heartless backing away and into another corridor of the place, soon crossing her arms.

"You're one to loose your temper easily, are you not?" she questioned.

"Well, being kicked in the face doesn't exactly happen that often. At least I have the reassurance that you'll never do that, or anything, ever again after this next minute."

Her face looked puzzled, tilting her head slightly. But bringing it upright again, she shrugged, waving a hand at him. He just raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" he inquired.

"Waving goodbye," she answered.

"What?" he questioned irately. But before he could say anything more, she ran off, coming to a window around the next hall. As he followed, he saw her jump off the edge, looking off in knowing that was a five-story fall. Surprisingly enough he did not see her fall, or land for that matter, and was infuriated that she had gotten away.

'_She can't get that far,_' he thought to himself. '_She'll come around again, and when she shows her head I'll be there to sever it!_'

In the late hours of the day, Sephiroth went back to his apartments, defeating all the Heartless he could find at the time. All of them had seemed to disappear, just out of thin air, but from all he had seen earlier he believed he had gotten rid of most of them. It didn't bother him to sleep, because he figured they were all too frightened to get near him again. He again flopped down onto his bed, lying back and shutting his eyes. In the time it took him to dose off, someone's patience was becoming shrill. When he finally did fall asleep, the figure came down from her hiding spot aloft on the roof above his open window, silently walking over to him. In vague emotion, she reached down a hand, putting it on his chest where his heart would be. But, as she had almost expected and had not hoped, it did nothing, sighing.

A pair of eyes came open with her touch, a firm hand coming up and twisting her wrist. Sephiroth jumped up, using his other hand to wrap it around her neck, backing her up against a wall and squeezing it tight. His eyes glazed with a certain coldness, starting to speak with a deathly tone.

"Who are you? What do you want?" he questioned.

She did not answer him, but only stared, or seemed like she was, through her blindfold. From her gritted teeth, she calmed, stretched out her hand and placing it on the side of his face. She tilted her head again, confused in a way.

"You're warm...You can't be a Heartless..." she proclaimed, Sephiroth rapidly ripping her hand away but still keeping a hand around her neck.

"Why are you here?!" he exclaimed.

"M-my family...they're hungry..." she stated, her head bending down. "And you're not going to get in my way!" With her spare hand she lunged forward, punching him in the stomach and his grip being released.

She ran by him, reaching for the window but tripped because of the hand grabbing her ankle. Quickly looking back, she used her other foot to bury it into his face, his hand not releasing like before. Instead he pinned her down with a knee on her stomach and a hand around her throat again, reaching for a light to the side. He grabbed a candle on the desk, lighting it with a short fire spell and bringing it close to her face, almost that it was touching the cloth just over one of her eyes.

"You _will_ tell me who you are and you _will_ tell me what you mean by your 'family,'" he ordered, the words barely escaping through his gritted teeth.

"Okay, yes, I will tell you, but please get it away, _please_! That light hurts, it _hurts_!" she screamed, catching Sephiroth off guard. He pulled the light away, the girl seeming to relax a bit. Even though she was being choked, she put her hands over her eyes, her face tightening and Sephiroth feeling beneath his hand her throat swallow. She was in pain, all because of the bright light put up to her eyes. Strangely he noticed a small amount of sympathy added to wonder, but remembering she had tried to steal his heart he only tightened his hand.

"Now say it!"

"I...I..."

"_Say it_!" he shouted, lifting her head slightly and hitting it hard against the rock floor. "I want an answer!"

"My family...please, let me go to them..." she said, her voice soft as a whisper.

"Your family; are they the Heartless?! Are they?!" Again, he hit her head against the floor. "Tell me! Are you checking out things for them so they can harvest their dinners?! Or are you seeing how liable the prey is?!"

"Please...Neither my family nor I will never bother you again...I promise...just please, let me go."

"Never," he spat, grabbing her hair and lifting her from the ground while he stood up. "You will stay here for the night and in the morning you shall explain this to me, including the detail of where your 'family' presides. Maybe we can deal with their _hunger_ problem by returning them to the darkness from whence they came!"

"No, please, you don't understand-" she tried to explain, but he would hear none of it.

"Oh, I understand completely!" he ridiculed, shoving her into a wardrobe. She shouted and screamed through the thick wooden doors, pounding on them. But he just locked it shut, making sure she would have no chance at escape. He laughed, returning to his bed and lying down, ignoring her exclamation completely to get some peaceful sleep in knowing his tediousness would be delayed for a while to come.


	2. Part Two

Part Two

His pale eyes open with a sudden blockage of light, seeing a faded figure in front of him. He sat up, disturbed by it, and noticed the blindfolded eyes which stared at him. Looking to the cabinet, his eyes widened as he saw it was torn open like an orange peal but..._wood_. Jumping up, he walked over to it, flinging it open wide and finding that the rest remained solid, nothing in it to give the slightest knowledge on how she got out. She couldn't possibly that strong as to tear open wood and make it bend like that; not even magic could make it split open so perfectly. He looked back to her, his eyes casting an empty gaze with barely any puzzled features, trying to avoid the fact that he knew nothing of how she had done it. Instead, she luckily did not care, only sitting out on the windowsill and looking at the arena below, the rising sun just being ward off by the lingering darkness before its greatness would overcome, bring in yet another glorious day.

"What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you have escaped?" Sephiroth questioned, putting his hands behind his back and walking over to her.

"Well, you asked me to explain some things and so I stayed. It was just growing really cramped in there so I just stepped out to sit here, if that's alright."

"Just stepped out?! You trashed that cabinet like it was nothing!"

She laughed, looking to him. "Forgive me if I made a mess of your furniture. I didn't think I'd do so much damage."

"Then why are you laughing?" he asked, and she stopped, turning back to the sunrise.

"Ironic I suppose." Surprisingly she stood where she had been sitting, gaining several feet over him and putting a hand on the side wall, gazing over as if to jump or something. "Kind of like this life we lead..."

Sephiroth just stared, shaking his head and crossing his arms. "You make absolutely no sense, do you realize this?"

"Of course!" she smiled, turning and jumping down. "Then again, are you just seeing things through different eyes?"

"What are you talking about?" he said, beginning to get angry. "Now just tell me, what are you doing here?"

"Because you wanted to ask me about things," she answered simply.

"No, what are you doing here?!"

She eyed him with inquire, shrugging. "Because you wanted to ask me about things."

"_No_..." He put a hand on his head, knowing this was going to take awhile. Feeling the swelling of a headache coming on, he sat down in the chair against the wall, shutting his eyes. "Look, why are you still here?"

"Because you asked me to stay until morning so you could question about my family's whereabouts and why I'm here."

He chuckled. "Asked? More like ordered to me."

"Again, all in your perspective," she sighed, beginning to walk to the door. He stared after her, wondering what she meant by that and also _where_ she was going.

"What are you doing?" he queried, the girl pacing out. Sephiroth stood, walking quickly after her. Getting near, he forcefully grabbed her arm, turning her to face him. Gritting his teeth he spoke, "Don't even turn your back to me, or next time you'll find a knife sliced through it! Now I said, what do you think you're doing?!"

She just gazed, suddenly smiling and tapping him on the nose with one figure. With this it was the last straw to him, wrapping a hand around her neck and pushing her back against the wall, beginning to tighten his grip. 

"How dare you insult me in such a way! Maybe you won't find it so funny when your head pops off your shoulders!" he spat.

"But how can I laugh...if I have no head?" she smiled, despite of the increased pressure on her throat.

Narrowing his gaze, he let her drop, the girl falling to her knees and heaving for breath. He just shook his head, not seeing what this girl was getting at. "What are you, some sort of philosophic freak?"

"I suppose you could say that. However, when you have time like I have you really can think of such things."

He raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"Hmm? Oh, so now you want to hear more? I don't know, you don't seem the most interested type..."

"Just continue already!" he shouted, the hallway ringing with his voice a moment later.

"Okay..." She began to walk again, Sephiroth coming to her side. Pausing for a few seconds, she looked up at him. "What is your name?"

"Aren't you getting off the subject?" he said.

"I have to call you something now don't I?"

"...Sephiroth..." he answered. "What is yours?"

"Queray. My family just calls me Ray though, so I guess you can call me that." 

"Fine. Anyway, continue on with your explanation."

Thinking for a moment, she put her hands in her pockets. "I don't know. What is it you'd like to know?"

"How did you get here?" he asked, knowing that this question would finally get through to her, seeing as how she was listening.

"Let's see...Locked away, starving, trade ship, riot...Oh yeah! First of all, these pirates came along, right? Then, with all they had left, they sold us to some merchants who sold us to some more merchants who finally sold us here. Yeah, that's it."

She said it in almost a happy way, like for some reason he was the only person she had spoken too in a long while. It was strange for someone to have a reaction towards him such as this, but shrugging it off he ignored it. Thinking of what she had said, he finally came up with the question he wanted.

"You keep saying 'us'? What do you mean by 'us'?"

"My family and I. We all came together."

"So where is your family?"

"Places..." she said, knowing what he was getting at. She wasn't exactly going to tell him where her family was just yet, if ever.

With a moment pause, he changed the subject. "You know, you _did _cause a lot of trouble yesterday. What makes you think you won't get prosecuted for the crimes you did?"  
"Because this place revolves around darkness and pain, so what's the difference from a crime or an accident to you? I can just see you could care less about the people here, is that right?"

He laughed. "Very good. You're an observant one."

"So, Sephiroth," she said, thinking as she continued. "How did you end up here? Where did you come from?"

"I thought I was the one asking the questions," he stated, grinning almost.

"Yes, but can I ask-"

"No," he interrupted harshly, "and don't ever mention it again, understand?"

She nodded shortly, seeming to pay no mind to his tone. In a way this made him angry, that she defied him so. Of course, if he was ever going to find the root of the Heartless, he couldn't loose his temper and accidentally kill her.

Deep in his throat, he laughed. _Accidentally_ was just about a foreign word to him, because he never did anything accidentally. All his intentions were what he planned, and all those who came across him were sure of this. Then again, if it ever did come to that, maybe that word would come into his lexicon...For excuse reasons, of course.

As they reached the outer hallways, the girl named Ray suddenly ran to the ledge, staring up at the open roof in the middle. She was just enough to be in the shade, yet still able to witness the gorgeous blue sky above. Sephiroth, of course, was wondering what she was doing, contemplating why she would act so foolish. Stay back, he looked up as well, seeing she was looking at the sky. His face twisted in almost disgust, growing tired already of these stupid sidetracks. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her away, turning her to face him again. With a moment of thought, he continued, still in his harsh tone.

He pointed to her blindfold, narrowing his eyes. "How can you _see_?"

"Simple!" she said, and yet did not finish. Instead, she turned away, going to the ledge again and tossing her feet over.

"What, what's simple?!"

"See, I don't have too!" she stated, confusing him even more. She only tilted her head, shrugging. "You know, but then again you don't, so...I don't know."

"_Gah_, stop _doing_ that!"

"Doing what?!" she asked.

He clenched his fists, seeing her jump off and land a story down onto the ground. Gritting his teeth, he didn't know why he was continuing on with this. It didn't seem worth it anymore, not with this aggravation. But in this he realized if he had suffered thus far, he might as well continue on, and followed her off the ledge. The rays of the sun burned at his pale skin; it had been so long since he had stood out in the daylight, he couldn't even recall how long it _had_ been. Seeing her make her way across the walkway and into a shady corner, she suddenly came to her knees, holding her hands up above something. Gazing over her shoulder, he scoffed in disgrace under his breath, seeing it was only a weed. In her eyes in was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, with a flower growing out of a small patch of cracked, dried mud ground and a few pedals of grass growing between. However, it didn't matter what she thought, only that he found it stupid.

And smashed it under his shoe.

Grabbing her arm, he lifted her to her feet, shaking his head. "Such childish behavior from a person your age. You should be abashed for your leading me out here to burn for a _weed_."

She stared down at it for a moment, her hands beginning to shake in front of her. In that moment, though, her hands suddenly became fists, Ray icily twisting her head to face him. There was a certain anger within her that caught Sephiroth off-guard, like she would not be capable of such a thing. But it happened, and she pulled her arm away, that anger quickly fading back to her normal state.

"Do you have a room I can stay in? Unless you don't have any more inquiries for me."

"No, of course. I'll show you," he said, beginning to walk back and show her to a new room.

That anger that had been her eyes...He had only seen it once. Only once, and if given the chance the person who he had seen it in would have killed him. This girl had it too, but the only difference was she had it just by stepping on a weed-not actually killing someone. If this was so, that meant she could go off any moment, and in it could jeopardize his being. This was the first time he had seen this in a long time...

And he never wanted to see it again.

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I'm sorry it took so long to update; school...tests...I really didn't have time, y'know? But at least I got it up! ^__^ okay, well, thanks for reading and please review!


	3. Part Three

Part Three

It never really occurred to him what her intentions were, and for some reason he came to the conclusion he would never know. She seemed so bizarre, so happy, so..._annoying_, that it appeared she would always stray from the subject. As he had entered her room for the past few days he had always seen her standing on the ledge, gazing out to the rising sun like a moth to a lamplight, mesmerized by its beauty. He on no account saw it, but somehow she did and would stand there, staring with her eyes blindfolded. At some points it reminded him of someone he had once met. Or rather, once witnessed speaking to others. It reminded him of that little brat who was said to be a ninja, always happy and at some times painstakingly irritating. This was during the day when he saw this, but in the brief moments he would see her continuance there, it made him remember someone else. He wasn't exactly sure who, however he did know it was someone familiar.

He walked up, clearing his throat and aggravated to get her attention. It was stupid when he had to do this every day, even if he made a sound as he entered. Whether she knew this or not, she just gave a half-hearted smile as she did every time, stepping down from the ledge and pacing over to him.

"Anything you want to know today?"

"Is there anything you haven't told from the nothingness over this past week?" he questioned, and she shrugged.

"You're just not asking it in the right way," she finally said, at least giving him some clue he was doing something wrong.

"What do you mean?" he asked as they both walked out, beginning to travel on their same pathway they did ever time.

"Well, you see you have this way of asking things in a..._forceful_ manner. You may want to try a different approach to that," she stated.

"Why, when everyone seems to cooperate."

"Except me," she proclaimed.

"Except you," he agreed. "It makes me wonder, too, why you don't."

"Because I know something. You may not, but at least I do. I know what you're trying to achieve and I'm not going to answer you until you ask in the right way."

"But if you know something why don't you just tell me so I will know and we can just get this over now?"

She stopped, staring up at him and blinking. She shook her head, chuckling slightly. "Okay...you lost me."

He laughed, shaking his head and crossing his arms, leaning against the wall. "Just tell me what I want to know and you can go. Simple as that."

"But if I could leave anyway, wouldn't I already be gone?" she smiled slightly, turning Sephiroth's face to question. He stared, really beginning to wonder and, surprisingly, not in anger.

He leaned forward, getting face to face. "Then why are you still here?"

She tilted her head again, soon tapping him on the cheek and nodding her head. With this she continued on, Sephiroth following after her.

"Now you can ask me something," she said, putting her hands behind her back as she walked.

"You won't answer my previous question will you?" he inquired, and she shook her head. It made him frustrated that she wouldn't, thought at least he could ask her something an get an answer now. "Alright. Where are you from?"

She shrugged, looking off to her side. "I don't see what importance it is now, seeing that I'm here. But if it is that important to you, I came from a place far away from here. I'm not exactly sure what it was called, if it had a name, and I'm not quite sure if it has a name now. Sorry, but in truth that's all I know."

"Wait..." He grabbed her arm, stopping and staring at the floor in thought. "How can you not know where you came from?"

"See that's the thing," she said, striding in front to face him. "If I can't remember if I've seen the light of day, do you expect me to remember where I came from?"

"Is that why you stare out at the sunrise everyday?" he questioned.

She nodded. "Yes it is."

"Hmm...Makes sense I suppose."

"Ah-ha!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger at him. "It doesn't does it?"

"What doesn't?"

"It doesn't make sense to you!"

"Not really...But what relevance does it have?! Just continue on, this is getting into more nonsense than it needs to!" Sephiroth shoved her forward, making her walk on.

Under her breath, however, he heard the words that somehow echoed through his mind, like somewhere, way back, it was said and gave meaning. He quickly stepped before her, shadowing the light from reaching her. Eyes turning glassy, he glared at her, though she seemed to continue in staring forward.

"What did you just say?" he whispered harshly.

"...One who knows nothing can understand nothing..."

In this he froze, like a sudden trigger going off in his brain. He couldn't understand why or how this was happening, but in a moment's notice he felt his heart suddenly stand still, having his eyes widen. Feeling like he was about to lose balance, he put a hand on her shoulder, Ray finally looking up. The strangest thing was, when she saw it, he gazed back as well, just with as much question as she had.

With a touch of his hand on her shoulder he did not feel the warmth that she did from him. Instead her shoulder, even with the black clothing over it, was icy cold, like she had been stuck in an icebox over the night. Ray, on the other hand, felt the warmth from his hand, giving question to her. She wasn't exactly sure of the words, but knew what she wanted to ask.

Though it never came when he glared, his rage gaining within him and pinning her against the wall. His hands tightened on her shoulders, beginning to cause pain to her, and his interrogation beginning to unfold.

"What was that just then?" he questioned.

"What was what?" she answered, her face wincing under the pressure.

"Don't lie to me!" he shouted, tightening his grip. "You said something that made me freeze up. Now tell me, what is the significance of those words?"

"I don't know..."

"Tell me!" he yelled in anger, finally closing his clasp with a sickening crunch. Her collarbone snapped like a twig, even seeing the indentation in her fragile skin. The odd thing was, however, that she did not scream or cry in agony. Instead she just stood there, slouching slightly but remaining with a bit lip, seeming calm in every way.

"I told you I don't know and I honestly don't _know_. You should realize what it means, but to the reason why you froze...I don't know..." she said, and in this he _believed_ her, letting her fall to her knees and stepping back.

"Somehow your words are truthful, which is something I do not find in most people," he stated, but soon shook his head, his eyes narrow. "But so help me, if you ever do something like this again, whatever it was you did, I will not care whether you have useful information or not. You'll be dead before you can speak another word."

Shockingly she began to laugh, softly to herself and then out loud, trying to stand up. "There is one thing you just don't quite get yet Sephiroth, and I fear you never shall."

"And what might that be?" he asked, and she stood, walking over to him and gazing deep within him.

With a menacing whisper, she said, "There are worse things than death, Sephiroth. You granting me death would just be a merciful cause to the rest of the life I have lived."

As she turned to walk away, he suddenly took the back of her shirt and flipped her around, wrapping a hand around her neck. A certain evil glaze formed over his sight, finally appearing to strike fear into her. Either that or it was something completely knew to him, something he didn't quite understand just yet.

"Then what actions must I take to make you suffer?" he inquired, making her gasp a bit in disbelief.

In a moment of silence she replied, "The only thing you could ever do is to leave me be and continue as you are."

"Don't try and work your way out of this. You've dug your grave as it is."

She shook her head. "Many times have I done so." Looking up at him, she continued, "There is no point anymore. Are you through with asking me things because I cannot think at this time."

"Then later we will speak," he said, releasing her from the grasp around her neck. She just stared for a moment, and without another word turned and ran back to her room.

As he stood there in silence, he imagined how foolish this girl was for crossing him so. Everyone he had ever met feared the sight, and yet somehow she did not. She did not see his threatening presence as anyone else would have and it made him think of who, or rather what she could be to make her so unwavering to his commands. It made him infuriated that he could not just do it like he always did and get the information simply.

In this he grinned, remembering the bones he had broken in her shoulders. She did not squirm in pain, but maybe she would react when her retinas where burned from her blindfolded eyes...


	4. Part Four

Part Four

With a creak of the door he stepped inward, finding it was pitch black around all but for a stream of moonlight shining through the open window. The girl sat across the room at a desk, looking to be writing something. Even there was no light, she seemed to act normally, as if it were lighted by the rays of the sun. He approached her quietly, going to the side wall and using a small spell to light a fire. Nevertheless, when he stared back she did not turn to face him. In this he took the iron rod, sticking it in fire to get the end red hot for the taking. Before this would happen, however, he went behind her, staring over to see what she was writing. As he suspected from the moment he got close, she was not actually writing but drawing. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes when he put a hand on the extra chair space, leaning over to glace.

It shocked him, oddly enough, to see her draw such a detailed picture in such little light before...and such a graphic one. The pen acted as if a guidance for her hand and not even knowing what she was doing. But the picture showed of just a blank smudge at the top above a darkly colored in base on the bottom of the page. The darkness held hands, reaching up as if to pull something down from the middle. The sky held streams of light, flowing down but fading towards the center. These two areas all curved around the middle oval shape, the sight within it looking to be a calm, watery surface. When he stared closer, he noticed that this 'water' took form, appearing to swirl and finally take the outline of an _eye_.

Blinking, he stood back, not understanding what this meant. Instead, he put a firm hand on her shoulder, willing to ask.

"What is this you're drawing?" he questioned.

"It is what we all are..." She paused, turning up to meet his gaze. "Or at least what we all once were."

"How could you see in no light?" he asked.

"There is light...as long as you're willing to find it."

He shook his head, pulling his hands away and walking over to the fire. He took the rod from out of the smoldering ashes, beginning to stare as the heat began to burn at his being. Turning back, he began to walk over to her, taking her shoulder once more to get her to face him. This time, however, she suddenly reached up her hand, grabbing his wrist.

"Be warned, Sephiroth, for with everything there shall be repercussions," she stated, Sephiroth twisting her around ripping his hand away.

"I'll be concerned about that when it happens," he proclaimed, wrapping his hand around her slender neck to lift her from the chair. When she stood, he let go, reaching his hand up to pull off her blindfold. As he did, her eyes remained squinted shut, taking his hand and gripping it once more around her throat.

"Wait, please!" she pleaded. "One thing before I can no longer see. I have never been able to witness my eyes for I cannot see very well in the sunlight. So, if you could, please tell me what my eye color is."

He looked at her with question. "Why?"

She grinned. "Mama gave them to me, so I should at least know. For her and father's sake."

He knew he would not be able to get her to open her eyes if he did not agree, so with this he agreed. In hesitation she slowly squeezed them open, revealing them once and for all to the flames.

__

'Take care of him for now...I'm counting on you...'

Sephiroth froze, glimpsing the sight of her eyes. Through they wondered furiously in attempt to find shade, he just kept her there, still, and gazed that them in inquiry. They were a hazel color with a tint of brown on the edge of bright green, almost...beautiful in their splendor. Those eyes did not seem to fit her, but as he saw all of it together, it seem to create a totally different image. Not just that, but that voice...the one that spoke in his mind. The eyes that gaped in an attempt to see gave him a memory he never knew existed. He could not burn out these eyes; these mysterious, gorgeous eyes, for somehow they meant too much.

Throwing her to the floor, he shook his head, blinking in disbelief. He couldn't do it. Sephiroth just couldn't do it...He looked to Ray, who continued to wander like she was blinded, called his name in a question, her incredulity to what he had done in question.

"_But why?_" she thought, Sephiroth picking up her blindfold to the side. He held it there for a moment, contemplating, and then knelled over, dropping the rod surprisingly and taking her hand, placing it in her palm. "Sephiroth?" she asked as he picked up the rod again, standing and taking it over to the fire where he sat it there, his head tilt. He stared deep into the warm light, noticing her stand from behind, covering her eyes once more with the black piece of cloth.

"My apologies," he said quietly, clenching his fists. "I must've overreacted."

"No need," she replied. "But...it is so strange for you not to carry out your task. Why didn't you?"

He turned to face her, his eyes in a sort of daze. His silver hair reflected in the dim flickering light, giving a shadow to his appearance. Shaking his head, he said, "I...don't know...I just couldn't do it, after I saw your eyes. There was just something about them..."

"What color?"

"What?"

"What color were they?" she asked.

"Umm...Hazel. They were hazel..."

"Oh," she answered shortly. With a long pause, she continued. "So what did you see?"

"What? How should I know?! There was just something, alright!" he yelled, already getting agitated from where she was going with it...if she was trying to get at anything.

"But...tell me..._Can_ you see?" she asked softly, as if intending it.

"See? See _what_ exactly?"

"Just...Can you see?"

There was a very long moment of silence between them, Sephiroth trying to figure out what she meant and Ray just trying to get an answer. He continued to clench his fists, his anger rising in annoyance once again. Why wouldn't she just say it? If she knew what he was talking about why didn't she just tell him? Was it some sort of game she was playing? To see how long she could make him aggravated before he really did severally harm her? Well, she would wait no more, for this was the last straw. The spell from her eyes had worn off, and he was back to normal.

As he attempted to take a step towards her, he found that he couldn't, feeling a abrupt pain coming to his chest. He lifted his hand to put a hand on where it ached, but as he did he felt a warmth, one he had never experienced before. Looking down, his eyes widened and faded in and out of darkness as he saw a red and orange object, all in the shape of a glowing heart. Staring up, he saw Ray put her hands over her mouth, undergoing the pain that came when it was suddenly seized from him. He did not see what creature took it, but only fell to his knees, sensing a cold stain of blood drip from the side of his mouth. When he shut his eyes, preparing himself for the fall to smash his face into the floor, it did not come, but only a pair of hands on the side of his arms and soon his head resting on her shoulder. His eyes opened again, fading even more so although his hearing remained at attention. Even though his head rang with a thousand thoughts, all he could say was two words...

"But why?"

He never got an answer before his consciousness diminished, his being falling prey to the unknown darkness.

The light came back to him, caressing his face with the radiance of the sun. His vision came back with a glimpse of the sandstone ceiling, still a bit blurry. Feeling something cold in his chest, he aimed his sight down, seeing a hand coming forth from where it had placed something over his heart, but to what he was not sure. Following it back to its owner, he saw another hand come to his forehead, dabbing a wet cloth on it. Again he was greeted with only a halfhearted smile, belonging to the person he had last seen. Trying to sit up, he found he could just lift his head and barely his shoulders, the rest unmovable. Ray pressed on his one shoulder, shaking her head.

"Don't try getting up. You'll only strain your heart more than it needs to be," she stated.

"Why...?" he asked tranquilly.

"Why what, Sephiroth?" she question, continuing to dab the cloth on his forehead.

"Why do you do this? I should have been left for dead and yet...I still remain. Why would you help me?"

"Because," she answered, shrugging.

"Because what?"

"Just because," she replied, taking the cloth back to the bowl at her side, rewetting it.

"Then explain to me why I am still here," he said.

She sighed, finally just putting it on his head to speak clearer. "The regular Heartless were growing tired and hungry, so I guess found the nearest target."

"Shouldn't I have been swallowed in darkness, though?" 

"I...got it back for you," she answered slowly, Sephiroth turning his head to her.

"You got it back...?"

"Yes...It was just a misunderstanding, really, and so they gave me back your heart. Though, I have to give it back to you little by little, so that's why you can only move your head. Actually, I'm quite surprised it worked. I didn't think you were going to wake up honestly."

He ignored that last statement for more important matters. He lifted his head again, trying to sit up. "Why would it ever listen to you?"

"I just did," she answered harshly, reaching out her hand and pressing his head back down onto the pillow. "If you dare get back up again I'm going to glue you there!"

"Yeah, well, I can't go anywhere anyway."

She thought for a moment, shrugging, "I suppose it's an excuse." She took the cloth from his head, putting it in the nearly empty bowl and standing up. As she headed for the door he stared after her.

"Where are you doing?" he questioned.

"I'm going to get some more water for the cloth that will cool your fever. That is unless you want to be smoldering when afternoon gets around."

"No, that's quite alright. Go ahead," he agreed, setting his head back.

"Get some rest. It will make you heal faster anyway."

He shut his eyes, hearing the door gently close, drifting off into sleep. Feeling numb after a few moments, he thought that something wrong, knowing he had never felt like this before. Opening his eyes, he saw himself standing there, but not particularly _anywhere_. He was staring up as he had been, seeing a blinding white light falling upon him. As he diverted his eyes to the floor, they only widened, hands beginning to reach up from the darkness and pull him down. He kicked them away and kept them at bay for a moment, but soon enough they swarmed around him, whispering things that echoed through his head.

Donotponder!Justdoit!Destroy!Kill!Donotaskjustgetridofthethreat!Destroy!

He held his head, trying to block it from any more whispers and laughs and taunts from occurring. Finally he could no longer take it, looking up to try and find that calm, comforting light above. Instead he was meet with one small glimmer of it, the rest covered with the black shadow. Reaching up, he tried so hard to grasp it, and eventually did, blinking for one brief second before he was brought back up, staring up at the light. At least this time he would not look down and would have a second chance to somehow wake up from this bizarre dream. For that's what it was. Of course! It was all a dream, just a dream...

Right?

His ears perked up as he heard a voice from behind, echoing until it bounce in front of him, staying there.

"_There is light which we shall never fully reach, and there is always darkness to pull us down. But will you give in or stay above to find your light as much as you can? For there is light and there is darkness...but there has to be a mean somewhere, right? In this life no one is perfect. But at least you can find everything you will be. There is black, and there is white, but where is the gray which we so must seek...?_" There was a pause, Sephiroth getting the message and looking straight ahead, where his eyes enlarged tot eh sight before him. It was exactly like the picture Ray had been drawing before, a calm blue and white watery surface in an ellipse shape, or an eye. In this, the voice continued, the last thing he would hear in this so-called dream. "_Can you see...?_"

A wind whipped at his face, the watery surface suddenly flying forward and about to crash into him when he shut his eyes, feeling a cold shiver run up his spine, quickly opening his eyes. He sat up, finding this later as surprising, but at this time putting a hand on his forehead, breathing in deep. Finding his hands were quivering, he just glared, clenching them and putting them back to his side, looking out the window. Angry at himself, his hands tightened in thought, knowing what this meant. He actually feared his own dream, and stupid _dream_! Narrowing his eyes, he felt something by his side, releasing his grip and looking at his hands. Amazed in a way, he looked to the sheets, seeing that the stainless white fabric was now absorbed with a great deal of blood. Shaking his head, he threw the blankets off to the floor, finding that his abdomen was wrapped in bandages, his boot no longer on his feet but to the side of the bed. As he prepared to move his legs, he saw that they would not move, though at least he could move his upper half now.

Another creak came from the door, this time louder, the person knowing he was awake. She step to the side of the bed, just sitting there for a moment. He stared at her, Ray seeming to be staring back. His eyes fixated on her, trying to see past the dead appearance and find something more, something that would explain this to him. But she hid it, almost like she knew he was searching for something. She just looked at his hands, sighing and shaking her head. Whatever had been there, whatever he had seen in her eyes the night before, it was no loner there but bared back deep within her. It would resurface again, he was sure of that, but not at this time. No, all he could do was sit back and wait.

And patience wasn't exactly one of his virtues...

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A/N YEA! snowdays rock! More time to type! Anyway, I think I'm making Sephiroth...I dunno, not like him? Well, he did get his heart taken so I guess that counts for something...Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter, please review, and please stay tuned for the next!


	5. Part Five

Part Five

As he sat there, his eyes fidgeting in pain with the antiseptic being put on the wound in his back, he truly did wonder why. Why, after all this torture she had been put through, would she help him in any way. It reminded him so much of the woman many years ago, who knew of her death put went ahead with it anyway. She had known that with her summoning help from the planet, certain evens would unfold; the arrival of her good acquaintances, the scene of one last, sorrowful moment until her back was punctured and sliced through, her slowing heartbeat echoing in shadows as the evil menace who had cause it stared up and grinned, finding it was just one more soul for him to conquer when he became ruler of the planet. He remembered, vaguely, that he had been that menace, to laugh at the man, who had been this Ancient's friend, now in angry tears. It was almost pitiful, but now that he thought about it...reasonable...

What was _wrong_ with him?

He couldn't understand what had made him so soft, and it was so frustrating to be this way. Knowing he had not been this way before his heart had been stolen, something had to have been done by Ray, something that had to do with giving back his heart. She would not say anything, and in fact hadn't said anything for the past few days. His strength had yet to return fully, and with it was at her mercy to give him back the rest of his heart so his legs could move.

He squirmed again, the pain in his back excruciatingly overwhelming. She sighed, sitting back for about the tenth time and shaking her head.

"You know this would be so much easier if you'd stop complaining," she stated.

"_Complaining_?! Do you know how much this hurts?!"

"Yes, actually," she confessed, standing up and handing the bowl of sterile water to the maids who had been standing by just incase anything went wrong. Though they had no idea who Ray was or how she had gotten there, they took the word of their master in saying she was to be his medic. Why, they did not know either, but would not question him.

He remained on his side, seeing in the corner of his eye that she had sat down, waiting for the bowl to be returned to her.

"So now you speak?" he questioned, a moment of silence to follow.

"Yes...The truth must come eventually."

"That's surprising. Well, when did you have a wound that had to be treated by antibacterial medicine?"

"A long time ago...I'd rather not go into it," she said. "It's kind of like you don't want to get into your past, hmm?"

"I suppose that's fair enough." _Fair_ enough? Since when did he ever say things could be fair?

"So tell me, Sephiroth, do you remember anything from your past? Just a yes or a no."

"Possibly...But what's it to you? It is of no importance."

"I guess not," she sighed, receiving the bowl and once more beginning to heal his back wound still there from where it had been stabbed by the Heartless.

In truth, he didn't really remember much. He remembered the death of the Ancient and coming so close to victory before he was defeated by his worst enemy. With a last ditch effort he summoned his worst attack, one that would wound the planet beyond repair, but as he faced his nemesis for one last time...He didn't know. He couldn't recall what the results were, (or if there_ were_ any). All he could remember was these black creature, standing over him with their glowing yellow eyes before his consciousness faded. Finding himself waking up here, with one black wing no less, he would discover that his life would continue here, if he had any left.

When she tapped his shoulder, he looked over, hearing her say that he should sit up now. Doing so, she wrapped his back and around his chest several times with bandages to make sure it was secure, telling him to sit back again. Staring up at the ceiling, he let another moment pass before he continued.

"How long will I be this way?"

"A few more weeks I suppose. Cultivating the Heart back to its original form will take some time.

"Wait, its original form?" he questioned. "I hope your not planning to restore it any further than the way it was when you arrived."

She blinked, shaking her head. "Wouldn't dream of it." She dipped the cloth in the antiseptic and dropped it on his hand, keeping it there for some time.

"Good," he said. In a second of thought he said, "So, how do you do it anyway?"

"Do what?"

"How do you cultivate the heart? Surely you must've learned it somewhere, for there is no medic I've known who could do that."

"Is there?" she asked, almost like a defensive question. But with a halfhearted smile she shrugged. "I don't know, I've just been able to since I was very small."

"What are you?" he said suddenly, catching her off guard.

"Well I'm....I'm not going to tell you. Not until you tell me where you come from."

He laugh. "I think you've been hanging around me too long."

Without even a smirk, she said, "Possibly. But whatever. So are you going to tell me or what?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think I will."

"Fine, then you won't get a word out of me," she nodded.

"At least we agree on something."

The room suddenly went silent, the maids beginning to stare in wonder. Sephiroth sat up, noticing this, and shook his head. A chuckle bellowed in his throat, and then emerged out of his mouth, as loud and open as it had ever been. The similarity was just hilarious, and in truth he didn't know why he was laughing because it made him seem more like a fool.

"What? What's so funny?"

"That was comical!"

"What was?"

"That just then! Couldn't you tell? You sounded just like a child."

"Yes, but then again you just added to it!"

He stopped, turning his gaze to her with a deadly glace. "Are you calling me childish?"

"Yes, yes I am!"

"How dare you! I was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was _not_!"

"Was _TOO_!"

All of the maids blinked, one of them leaning over to whisper to the others. "It seems like they've known each other for their whole lives, doesn't it."

"Oddly enough it does," the other agreed, listening as they continued to bicker.

"Grow up!" Sephiroth yelled.

"You!" she counted, standing up and crossing her arms.

"You know you were better when you were reluctant to talk!"

"And you were better when you were a twisted creature holding onto the thread of your heart! Not to mention that it wasn't the Heartless that caused it, but it was all because that's what _you_ were!"

"Oh, I'm so hurt!" he shouted sarcastically. "At least I don't look dead, whereas your skin's probably crawling with dieses!"

"I'm very healthy, thank you, just..."

"Just what?!"

She stalled, but soon stood stern. "Nothing! But you should treat me with more respect if you ever want to walk again! I could just leave you here to rot you know!"

"Go ahead! I dare you to!"

"Fine, I will!" In this dare she turned, marching over to the balcony and jumping up onto the railing. Taking one last look back with a grudge, she jumped off, the maids running over to see what happened but finding nothing, Ray disappearing as she always could.

The maids looked back for a moment in shock, questioning why he had chased away the only person who knew how to restore his health. He narrowed his eyes at them when he noticed they were staring, the maids scampering away and shutting the door behind. Sephiroth sat back, shutting his eyes in feeling a headache coming on. He didn't care if she came back; for the better, he thought. If she could heal him, someone else out there could, and if the owners were ever going to make a living they'd find another person like her, or else their main challenge would be out of commission. He grinned, yawning as he felt of getting some shut eyes, and knowing that this would all be solved without the girl's help anymore.

In the dimness of the late moonlight, he thought he heard whispers, presumably in his head. If it was another one of those visions, he thought, he was going to lose it. He just couldn't take one more stupid, pointless visions that came in his dreams. But as he opened his eyes to a slit, feeling that he could, he felt like sitting up in surprise, but thought not to see what would happen. On his chest was a hands closing in, suddenly hitting and going through it, releasing the bright light that had been concealed in it within him and pulling a black essence back out. A warmth flowed through his blood, Sephiroth beginning to undergo a lightheadedness. But he continued to stare with his narrowed eyes as the hand returned to its owner and placed the black essence into the person's own chest, stumbling back. A quiet, chocked scream squeaked in the person's throat, holding out a hand as the figure walked forward, out into the open area. They collapsed onto their knees, wheezing for breath as they held their head. Sephiroth opened his eyes fully, knowing they would not notice, and stared up at the ceiling, seeing shadows crawl across and to the side wall where they scurried over. A bright light began to fill the room, but there was a hiss to follow.

"No! Give...it back...to the...being it belongs to!" a rasp came, the light being pulled away.

Sephiroth sat up finally, recognizing the voice. He stared down at the figure before, seeing a swarm of different kinds of Heartless circle around her. For some odd reason they did not attack, but only gazed on as she squirmed in pain. When they noticed he had arisen, their heads turned simultaneously towards him, standing still. Lastly Ray looked up from the hair covering her face. She was much different now, her veins and arteries sticking out of her pale skin with a blackened color, her mouth small and as pale as her complexion. Underneath her blindfold her eyes burned through with a yellow color, and stared at him continuously as she stood. In one second more, her mouth widened to reveal two rows of jagged teeth, the inside of her mouth completely black; not even a tongue to show. From within, a sound, presumably a mix between a roar and a screech, echoed off the walls and rumbled off into the distance. It shocked him, yes, thinking she was going to lunge forward and tear his head off, but instead she only sulked back to the floor, she Heartless disappearing into the ground once more. She shook her head, a voice of her own and a much higher-pitched one intertwined as she spoke.

"I thought you were asleep..." she stated, pausing.

"Well I was until I noticed that light," he answered. "So, this is you?"

She nodded. "Yes, my other half at least. You wanted to know what I was and I guess you found out. I am not Heartless, yet I am not human...I suppose I am nothing. Just another nothing in the universe." She sighed, shutting her eyes and sinking into the floor like it was water. Sephiroth was about to say something, but froze up once again, a thought lingering in his mind with the words she had spoken...

_'I couldn't have said it better myself. You understand nothing, so you are nothing. And since you are nothing, you are but a mere puppet..._

'Aren't you, Sephiroth?' 


	6. Part Six

Part Six

His head hung low in thought, his hands folded behind his back. The sun didn't bother him as much anymore, the bright hallways reflecting off his glazed, mako-blue eyes. He wondered once more how he became this way, to be not so hateful of the sun as he had been and of everything else. His less-than-caring self had now turned into a new appreciative being, strangely as it was. Questioning what had happened to Ray, for it had been quiet a few days since she had been seen, he decided since he was better that we would wander the halls a bit and see what would turn up. Stopping, he began to hear voice, not of the echoing, around the corner sort either. Instead it came from his side, almost in a whisper, and in twisting his head to see he saw nothing, only the shadow of himself etched on the wall.

'Please help,' the raspy voice said, Sephiroth raising an eyebrow to what he noticed. His lips were not moving, but the shadow's were. Thinking he wasn't going to get any crazier, he answered.

"What is it you ask?" he inquired.

'Our friend...our daughter...She is in need...'

"Why?"

'Her life is threatened for she is weak beyond repair. We cannot bring her back because she refuses us. We need one to bring her here.'

He thought for a moment and said, 'Why does she refuse you?"

'Just please help us...'

With that the shadow faded to where it would be its normal color of gray, the voices never to be heard from even if he repeated his question. Instead he began to hear two other voices, these of real people, and Sephiroth beginning to walk faster while turning another corner to see.

Two guards stood there and laughed, their backs turned to him, where a third person sat in the middle. Dressed in the same tattered clothing as always, cuts scarring the sides of her face and blood stained on her shirt, Ray sat there hunched over, her blindfold torn to pieces beside her with her eyes shut. One of the guards kicked her, seeing if she would react and she only slumped over to her side like a rag doll.

"Heh, the girl must've gotten mauled by the Heartless and her heart stolen. Such a stupid fool."

"Well, at least it's a good thing. Now maybe her idiocy won't catch on to the other maids."

Laughing, Sephiroth frowned, seeing only two fools here, Ray not one of them. The reason for being idiots--for ever laughing at such a thing and having him standing there. He went up behind one of them, grabbing the guard's shoulder and putting pressure on it to make him fall on his knees, shouting in pain. The other backed away like a coward, shaking nervously and finally running off.

"You shouldn't say such things, for what if it were you who were in her place?" He grinned menacingly. "In fact, that sounds like a great idea."

"P-please, master Sephiroth, have mercy!" the man pleaded.

Sephiroth scoffed, tossing him to the side. "You're not worth my time," he stated, and the guard quickly squirmed off, stumbling in ache with his brand new broken shoulder. Sephiroth stared down at her, not seeing her move even though the guards were gone and only he remained. Kneeing, he put a hand on her neck, feeling her pulse. He felt one...and nothing more until the next first beat of, what it was suppose to be, a set. There was only one beat where there was suppose to be two. Under the slowly coming open eyes was her consciousness, a voice escaping her chapped, dry mouth.

"Leave me here. I am not worth the trouble, as I have told my family before you," she said, but Sephiroth ignoring her.

"Where do I take you?" he asked.

"No where, just go."

Sephiroth grabbed her arm, Ray feeling like her would just drag her along to find a medic. Even if he had done that, the medic wouldn't be able to heal her. Surprisingly, though, he slung her arm around his shoulder, helping her walk with her barely scuffing feet.

'This way,' the raspy voice from before spoke, coming form his side.

"What? Where must I go?" he questioned.

'The wall. Through the wall...' 

He gazed for a moment, wondering how that could be possible. Looking to Ray, he saw she was almost unconscious, and since this was her 'family', he thought he could trust them. Slowly coming up to it, he held out a hand, reaching out to where it was suppose to hit. Instead, it went through it, Sephiroth finding he could step through and doing so. When he was past, he sound himself standing in a dark, small room with the Heartless standing there, staring at him. They turned their gaze over to a section cleared off in the middle, presumably where he was to place her. Standing back after he had set Ray there, the Heartless did not bother with him, but only swarmed slowly around her. From the dimly lit torchlight to the side, a brighter light came from the center, dissipating within a moment later.

As the Heartless backed away, Ray sat up, her hands over her face with tars beginning to weal up in her eyes. Sephiroth did not approach, knowing somehow it was the wrong thing to do at the time, and only listened as she began to speak.

"Who was it this time? Who had to die for my life?" she asked quietly, no Heartless willing to come forth and speak. Most had Heartless symbols on them, other did not, but out of both groups they just stood there, gazing on blankly to her sadness.

"What do you mean by this?" Sephiroth inquired, Ray not bothering to look up.

"...I used my heart...to replace the further evil in yours. I had to place it within me so it would not escape back to its original owner, and the only way to heal it..." She shook her head, her dark hazel eye covered with tears now as she stared up at him. "They took the heart of someone else, hoping it would save me. It did, but in return gave a deadly price for that person. Like I said, you should've just left me there! So much suffering could have been solved if I just would've died then..."

Sephiroth chuckled slightly, shrugging. "You think you have it bad, try living with the past of a twisted psychopath, to put it lightly!"

"And you find this..._funny_?"

"More so ironic, really," he answered, stepping over to her. "In fact, I don't even know what made me sane again. I was all willing to be ruler of a planet, destroying anything that got in my way and then...then...I don't know..."

"Sephiroth, you don't need to tell me. I...I already know..."

Sephiroth gaped at her, his eyes struck with wonder. How _could_ she know anything? Unless there was something that gave the Heartless powers to see into others, there was no possible way. And then, as if automatically, the voice came again, ringing through his head like it had just been said.

_'One who knows nothing can understand nothing...'_

"Maybe," her voice said, snapping him out of his state of ice, "I should finally explain this."

"Yes, that may be a wise idea," he replied, continuing to stand there as she continued.

"Well, I'll start with us, my family. A long time ago, we lived in a peaceful land, secluded from the rest of our unknown world. We had a wise and wonderful ruler, which we all called a sage because of his great scientifically knowledge. One day, some weird substance fell from the sky, and to follow came outsiders, ones that informed our leader of an invasion of these dark creatures named Heartless. To find how to defeat these things as they came into our world, he asked for volunteers to see how the heart would react to darkness and why these creatures had originated. Of course my family, being the helpers they were, signed up right away. They were first to go before me, and like all the others lost their hearts and were branded with the sign of the artificially made Heartless. When it came my time he had began to lose interest in his 'civilian specimens', never finishing the test to cultivate my heart with darkness. So I remain the way I was, half dead, half alive. If you were ever wondering why I look dead and yet alive, there's your reason.

"After he was done with us he locked all those he had created in the basement of his castle, never to see light again. He was going to take up other experiments, one of a recently discovered man from the other side where the catastrophe took place."

"Catastrophe?" Sephiroth questioned, Ray nodding.

"Yes. Something terrible happened, something about a meteor crashing into a main city, which is, I believe, where what we called the rising falls is located...Well, after that occurred, very few survivors were left, our own side collecting them. Our _sage_, as we used to call him, sold some as slaves, but one in particular he kept. The man's heart was twisted, vile, and polluted with darkness. But he was still living, so how could he be the way he was and yet be so evil? He did experiments on the man, disfiguring him and putting him back together to find his core, to learn how he ticked...and how to become like him. To add an even stronger sense, to give him the capability of flight, he attached a wing to his muscle structure, giving an even more menacing look. However, since the man was unconscious and in a strict coma during this, he was put into the care of someone else as the former sage went off to find supreme darkness, to rule over all. Of course, it failed _miserably_ as I've heard, but the man was sold to this place, where he remained with the darkness still in his heart."

Sephiroth nodded slowly, seeing the picture. "And, let me guess. I'm that man."

"Yes, Sephiroth, you are that man. I would have hoped, that since you were living, you would still have something left to save."

"But why would you _care_?" he finally questioned, Ray remaining silent. "Well? Was it because I was vile yet still had some light left in me? If that were so, you are part Heartless yourself. Surely you would understand that nothing mattered to me being selfish and violent nonetheless."

"It doesn't matter," she proclaimed, and that was all she said before she slid back to a wall where she crossed her arms and sighed. Sephiroth walked over and sat next to her, shrugging.

"I guess there's nothing much left to tell then. Found the Heartless, learned the truth...And yet, even after all the things I planned, to think the Heartless where such wrongful creatures, I just don't seem to want to fulfill it. I mean, not all Heartless are terrible...But were forced into it."

She smiled, once again halfheartedly. "You finally learn. Good." Sighing, she shook her head. "All I want is sleep...All I've _wanted_ is sleep for a very long time."

"Then go ahead, I won't stop you," he said, yawning himself. "Sounds like a good idea, actually."

She continued to smile when she shut her eyes, leaning her against the wall and beginning to slouch, her face someone drifting into a peaceful state. Sephiroth dozed off as well, his eyes sagging and reopening in an attempt to stay awake. But it failed, and eventually he, too, glided off into unconsciousness...

'Such a strange creature he is...'

Sephiroth felt a twinge of pain in his back, finding himself lying on his stomach with his head turned to the side. He could not move, his eyes planted wide open with a feel of cold metal on them. Seeing a figure standing there, he tried looking up but his eyes refusing to do so. Instead he was eventually flipped onto his side, like a dead body, and the pain ceasing for a moment as he heard the figure speak.

'He can exist in darkness, and yet still be living...Oddly enough, he was found this way, like he had been born a living Heartless! I wonder how he achieved such greatness...'

'Umm, Master Ansem...' a nervous voice came from behind, emerging slightly into the light from above.

'What is it?' the man said annoyingly, sighing in frustration.

'My family...They're out a food...'

'Is that suppose to be my problem? You signed up for the experiment, thus you should deal with the consequences. Besides, you can steal hearts can't you? Find your own food.'

'Yes, I have managed to do that for some time. But haven't you found a way to create artificial hearts?'

'No, I have not. I have been much too busy for such foolish things.'

'Foolish, sir? But all those people...'

'Does it look like I care?' the man said hatefully, shaking his head and retuning to his work. The pain came back to Sephiroth's back, and though his face felt like cramping up and shout it did not, remaining still like it was dead. 'Poor young, unwise girl, haven't you learned anything after the years you have been stuck down there? No one cares anymore about what happens to you or your family, so you should care nothing back. I myself have only released you because you are the only other living Heartless.'

'I don't understand. If I am still human, shouldn't I be respected as one?'

The man laughed. 'Once a Heartless, _only_ a Heartless. You understand so little, spending most of your life down there.' He shrugged. 'I suppose, that one who knows nothing can understand nothing...Yes, that's it.'

Something was jammed deep into Sephiroth shoulder blade, making him scream in his head but nothing come from the outside. He saw blood begin to run from underneath him and ooze slowly off the silver metal table, echoing drip by drip onto the dark floor. The man laughed, Sephiroth feeling his body begin lifted up to sit, his arm dangling to his sides.

'Ha! Look at him! There was a slave who could tell the history of this man, and wasn't too happy about it either. But still, it makes perfect sense! I couldn't have said it better myself! You understand nothing, so you are nothing. And since you are nothing, you are but a mere _puppet_...Aren't you, Sephiroth?'

Sephiroth slammed back down, his arm snapping beneath him. Neither of the figures seemed to notice, but at least the pain in his back stopped, feeling like it was being wrapped as the man came forward into his sight.

'Anyway, I have an important mission for you. Since this man is in a temporary coma, I will have to place him below with the Heartless, seeing how he posses a threat. I will be on leave for quite some time so I'm putting you in charge to take care of him, knowing that with the small bit of heart he has would be a prime target for the Heartless. You are pretty trustworthy with the Heartless so you can keep them away. Take care of him for now. I'm counting on you.'

'But what if he wakes up?'

Sephiroth was lifted again, placed on the floor where he would sink into it. He heard a laugh before he was engulfed in it, the man shrugging. 'That's your problem, not mine.'

Within a moment, Sephiroth saw himself laying in a large, open corridor, dark and very cold. He heard whispers coming from the walls, crawling and slinking through the floor. They came up next to him, making their way with their hunger to feed on whatever heart he had. He couldn't move, even if he wanted too, and at this moment it seemed like the end of his ropes. That was until another dark figure came running up, beating them off and hissing at them to go away. They eventually did, the figure kneeling down by his head, lifting him up and putting his head on their shoulder. His eyes were still wide and lifeless, unable to move in any way, but he could still hear and see. Hearing the heartbeat of the person who wrapped their arms around his shoulders, he noticed there was only one of two for each turn. He could see part of the arm around him in the corner of his eye, seeing the pale, stiff skin with the dark lines for veins. As his head turned when the person went to lean again a wall with him still safely in their arms, he managed to look up, seeing, for what was to be the _first_ time, those dazzling hazel eyes and that same halfhearted smile. Ray laughed, thinking it was stupid that he would be able to hear her, but began to talk anyway.

'Sure, I'll take care of you. Maybe you can change for the better...Give you a few hearts and, hey, who knows! But right now isn't the time for speculation, is it?' She reached up a hand and put it over his eyelids, popping off a piece of strange metal that had been keeping his eyes open. Putting two fingers on them, she shut his eyelids for him where they would stay shut. 'Good night, Sephiroth. Hopefully you'll wake up to different circumstances...Unlike the rest of us...'

With this his consciousness faded again, finding himself waking up in the real world. He looked over the empty room, seeing no Heartless in sight. But remembering the person he was sitting next to him, he turned his head, seeing her still sitting there, sleeping soundly. He almost felt a smile spread across his face, finally feeling like he knew why now. The reason why she had put up with him was because of the promise she had made so long ago. She had said she would take care of him, and in doing so would try to make him see things for the better. The good news was this metamorphosis happened, though he still wasn't quiet sure why. Then again, did it really matter anymore? The past was gone, and everything seemed it would all unravel to the point where it would no longer exist. Sephiroth shut his eyes, settled and finally feeling that he would rest easy for once.

But the one thing he forgot--Old habits die hard.

"Heh, imagine. I never thought I'd see the day when Sephiroth went soft," an assert came from out of the shadows where two beings watched all of this occur.

"Don't let that discourage you. He's the same cold-blooded killer he always been," the other menacing voice spoke, a blue flame to be seen in the background.

"So how do I hurt him? Surely he has to be stronger than what he was."

"Yeah, but who says we're going to lay a finger on him?"

"What do you mean? How else would we hurt him?"

"Oh, there are ways." A sharp-teeth grin fell into the light of the visioning globe, a long blue face being revealed. "He needs the supply of hearts to keep him alive until his heart is completely healed, and the only way to get that..."

"So, what you're saying is..."

"Precisely," Hades nodded, putting a hand on the cloaked shoulder.

The other human man looked up at him, shaking his head. "But I don't need to harm her! All I want is Sephiroth dead! For what he had done to Aeris..."

"Her name's Aerith, remember? She changed it so she wouldn't be found out by him."

"Yes, I remember," he said harshly, turning back to the globe. "So what good will it do if I capture her?"

"Well, she is a Heartless you know. And I surely hope you remember what they Heartless did to you."

"That too I know," he said, flexing the leathery wing on his back slightly in remembrance. "So, if she's Heartless..."

"She's just another obstacle in the way," Hades finished for him, snapping a hands and opening a portal to the other world. "Now, all you have to for your freedom is change Sephiroth back to his heartless self and you can go back to wherever you were living."

"Very well," he said, grabbing the Buster Sword from behind his back and walking forward, into the dark halls of the coliseum.

Hades continued to grin, beginning to laugh when the portal sealed again. "Oh and one more thing, I'm not liable if you die! So long as we have that clear..."


	7. Part Seven

Part Seven

Opening her eyes with a bit of grogginess, she turned her gaze, seeing Sephiroth's calm face bent slightly in silence, taking slow, deep breaths as he continued to sleep. She put a hand on his neck, finding this strange he would sleep here and not just leave. But in this his eyes rotated under his eyelids, coming open unhurriedly. He looked over, seeing her awake. He stretched out a bit, yawning with a thought on his mind.

"So, besides for stealing hearts, what else can Heartless do?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You know, you must have special abilities of some sort, like going through walls and merging with shadows. But what else can you do?"

"Well sometimes we have the ability to shape shift, but it's nothing big."

"Wait a minute you mean like change into the shape of other _objects_?" he questioned.

"Yes...but only things organic. We can't turn into a piece of metal or anything like that."

"But you can still _change_."

She nodded slowly, but shrugged, standing up. "Like I said, it's nothing important. The main thing is what we _are_, not our side things." Smiling a little, she waved a hand. "I think your servants are going to be wondering where you ran off to. Don't you think you should go to them?"

Sephiroth stood, dusting himself off and nodded shortly. Ray surprisingly took his wrist, going to the wall and passing through once more, guiding him to the other side of it. The bright hall was in place of the old, moldy room, Ray letting go and stepping back.

"I must speak with my family, but don't worry, I won't disappear completely." Laughing slightly, catching Sephiroth by amazement that she would do that, she stepped back, forming into the wall and finally disappearing once again.

Stepping into the glare of the suns reflection on the floor, the area was silent. Everything except the wind waving through the hall. Sephiroth put his hands behind his back, walking farther into the sunlight. As it reached his chest, he realized it still burned, knowing that he was not complete just yet. He was still missing heart, where darkness crawled endlessly within him. Knowing it would change was just the hard part, not quite sure what it would be like to have a whole heart. He thought he was fine now, just the way he was, because in truth he feared he would become weak if he had anymore. It annoyed him that he had grown merciful, but it really didn't both him as much anymore. However, if he became too soft, he would grow madder than he had ever been, driving him to the ultimate brink of insanity. He just wondered how his enemy could do it so long ago and yet still live. Then again, he _had_ gone insane, so who's to say that hadn't been the cause?

Striding back, he turned, hearing footsteps behind. Sephiroth believed them to be of Ray's, for they were too causal to be a servant. However, he frowned when he learned it was not her, but a dark, shrouded figure. He almost raised an eyebrow when he saw the clawed hand, the blood-red cloak draping behind the man. When the person stepped into the light, he saw that same face, the one he vividly remembered, and the one of his enemy.

"_Cloud Strife_," Sephiroth rasped angrily in a menacing tone.

"Sephiroth," he replied, slinging the sword from off his shoulder. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Indeed it has. Tell me, is that girl still alive?"

"What do you care?" he spat.

Sephiroth shrugged, not really caring much. "Just wondering."

"Just _wondering_?" Cloud narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if he was up to something or not.

"Is there something you want?" he asked.

"Well I came here to kill you but you don't seem like yourself anymore. I really do wonder how much they twisted you head to make you more psychotic than you already are."

Sephiroth laughed, shaking his head. "I assure you, I am the same as I have always been."

"You're lying. That's one thing I can tell. The other that I don't understand...Why your gaze is so much less threatening. And I question whether you have gone soft or not."

"Don't be absurd!" he shouted quickly, giving it away.

"You are," he stated, disbelief striking him. "I thought I would be able to fight you too...Finally finish the job from what you once were."

"I am as much a cold hearted being as I always have, and I'll fight you here and now!" He formed a fire attack in his hand, ready to lunge it at him at any moment. But Cloud just laughed, putting the Buster Sword back over his shoulder.

"You're not worth it now! Come find me when you've become the black hearted killer again. Then I'll at least have some honor in ridding your existence." Cloud shook his head, turning to holding out a hand as he walked. Using his newly formed dark powers he had gained from somewhere, he created a portal, marching through and disappearing as the portal rapidly sealed back up.

Clenching his fists, he twisted around, pacing abruptly down the hall in anger, making his way to the stadium floor.

Sephiroth sat there on the marble bench, staring out from the dark open hall and looking down into the empty stadium in thought. A hand fell on his shoulder, Sephiroth not bothering to look back in knowing who it was. Such a gentle spirit, and yet such a cold presence. Ray had gotten another bandana, her eyes shielded from most light. She sat down beside him, staring up at his blank face.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, and he didn't answer. Standing up she patted him on the shoulder, but this time he rose, shaking his head and turning away.

"Nothing is wrong. Just leave me be," he said shortly, not turning to look back.

"Something certainly seems wron-"

"Yeah, well there isn't," he interrupted, a moment of quietness to follow.

Ray clenched her fists, angry that he would not tell her anything. If he wanted her to leave he should've just said it and not be so foolish. Walking up to him, she got up in his face, her eyes narrow. Sephiroth just stood there, trying not to make eye contact to make her any angrier as he soon saw.

"Look I saw what happened! I know who that man was; your arch rival right? You don't need to explain because I already know! I've heard the story many times along time ago. I saw he knew a difference in you, and if you really want to change back and fight him go right ahead!" She punched out her hand, jabbing it into his chest and Sephiroth feeling her grab a hold of something, his heart growing colder. Her face was calm with anger, but with her tilted head he could see her depressed state, knowing that if she did this it would've have just been a waste. "Just say the word and I'll do it. I'll just rip out your heart and put you back where you originally were."

He paused, in astonishment that after all she had done she would just tare it away if he said it. Like if it were up to him to decide, even though she was the one who gave this to him. He shook his head, taking her wrist and Ray letting go, pulling her hand back out of the portal she had created shortly and having it seal back up.

"If I fight him, I fight him as I am and not as I was," he stated, nodding his head. She smiled slightly, a laugh of happiness coming from her throat.

"At least I did something right," she said, stepping back and walking over to the stairs and into the light. Walking back into it, she shrugged, "Maybe even someday you can come into the sunlight. All for the better..."

"Somehow I-" Sephiroth stopped, his eyes widening in shock as something came swooping down, catching up Ray in its arms and flying up. He ran forward, just on the edge of the light, and seeing that same face.

Cloud held her up by her waist, a hand over her mouth to keep her from yelling. His wing was spread out, hovering there with a blank stare. "I believe this is yours, correct?" he said, referring to Ray.

"Let her go! This fight is between you and I!" Sephiroth shouted in anger.

"Apparently not, for it is in my knowledge that this girl is a Heartless, and had some part into changing us both into what we are now. Also, its been said that this is the cause of your softness, so I say this much. Maybe taking her will make you regain your former self, and unless your willing to retrieve her for your heart purposes, then I suggest you head for the place where we last fought. This way we can finish the last battle wasn't finished, and once and for all settle this." Cloud reformed a portal this time leading to a completely new place, and disappearing as quickly as he came.

Sephiroth shouted in anger, his dark, angered self returning to him once again...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N Well, I'm on an if moment here. To have a happy, where no one gets creamed ending press 1, for a less happy, sadder ending press 2. If you are sure on this note, press 1. If you are not quiet sure, press 2. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot! *glomps Sinister Sunshine with a bonker bat, (you know, one of those soft bats...I'm not really very violent ^_^)* HAHAHAHA! *clicks out*


	8. Part Eight

Part Eight

Her eyes opened with a sudden flood of light, her vision blinded and mostly blurred by it. She sat up from where she laid on her side, holding out her hands to get balance and stand up. Wandering in the luminosity, she bumped into many things until she stopped, hearing a familiar voice.

"Can't see much in the daylight, can you?" the deep voice spoke, Ray turning to its direction.

"You...I know you from somewhere..." she said, beginning to stumble towards it.

"Funny. I didn't think Heartless had memories," he stated, a chain sound beginning to echo throughout this place as he paced.

"You're the one that was sold...The one that didn't quite have a distasteful heart."

"Yeah, but I suppose its better than being locked away in this place for years on end."

"This place...Do you mean..."

"Yeah. I guess you could say you're home."

"Home. What is home?"

He paused, confused by her statement. He wasn't quite sure if she really didn't know what her home was or if she was referring to something else. Finally, he just answered in the simplest way he could.

"It was named Hallow Bastion by its previous owner. I'm not sure what it was called before, but this was my original home as well. That is, before..."

She stumbled again, but finally made out a dark figure standing there. He was surprised that she made it over, but she continued to search out her hands, putting them on the sides of his blotted-out face. Ray just smiled halfheartedly, her hazel eyes seeming to glow of a certain knowledge.

"Do you still linger on the past, Cloud?"

"My name...How could you possibly know it?!" he demanded, stepping back in shock.

"It's the same reason why I can remember things...and why I didn't just go through you and take your heart just then. I remember things, as I remember your hatred for him."

"You're talking about Sephiroth?"

She nodded. "You accused him for his destruction, and for that I do not blame you. But as you have suffered, don't you think he's suffered too?" He just stared, questioning what she was getting at. "You are like brother's in some perspective. He tried to fight for a purpose, but a wrong one at that. And with it, has suffered tremendously for his crime." She grinned menacingly. "I made sure of it."

Cloud's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"All those times he was experimented on, all those days when endless pain came as Ansem implanted that wing, I remember speaking with you. I remember you talking about your dearly beloved Aeris and oh, how you missed her. It was so heartbreaking to learn that she only tried to save the planet, and yet paid with her life. How terrible it must've been too lose someone you care about...Yet I could relate with the death of my parents. Well, not death, but turned into Heartless and seemed dead. For this I despised it, I hated caring for that man when Ansem ordered me to protect him from the other Heartless. Many year I wanted to feed him to them, considering how starving they were. It didn't matter what Ansem would think, but only that he would be gone from causing anyone else any pain! But...I saw it...I saw that there was once a light, that there was good in him at one point. That's why I wanted to help him, to become what he once was again. I think he has changed, and I cannot see why you would still want to fight him."

"Isn't it obvious?" he spat, ignoring mostly everything she had said. "He's the reason this planet is nothing but a lifeless, floating orb in the sky! I do hope you know what the Rising Falls are. It's where Meteor hit! Where Aeris's death was for nothing!"

"But she's not dead anymore, right?" she proclaimed.

"Does it matter? He still caused so much pain that revenge must be sought!"

She did not answer, but only hung her head, sighing. He just couldn't see that he, too, had the same problem that Sephiroth once had. As he was about to say something more, a bang came from behind, the doors swinging open. A woman's voice came, sounding urgent.

"Cloud! He's here!"

"What? That's impossible! How could he get here that fast?!"

"Well it's kind of simple when you give the location away in saying 'the last place we fought'." she sneered, Cloud scoffing and quickly walking past.

He entered into the main hall, telling Aeris to go and hide. She hesitated, but told him to be careful as she left. Marching into the Castle Chapel, past the Lift Shop, and into the Grand Hall, he witnessed once more the room where the Princesses of Heart had once been held. The room was still plagued in darkness, six symmetrical cylinders of blue flame still burning from where they had been a long time ago. The sealed Keyhole was still portrayed at the top of a large staircase, where the electrical pipes remained loose and remained high up above. This is where he would wait.

And it didn't take long for his adversary to arrive.

Cloud stood there, glaring at his enemy as he gazed back, both their eyes cold and emotionless. In long moments, there was nothing but silence, each waiting for the other to make a move. Finally, Sephiroth was the one who spoke.

"Where's the girl, Strife?" he questioned angrily.

"What? You mean the Heartless? Can't keep your heart steady without a new supply can you?" He grinned. "Maybe I should just let you live. Then your heart will collapse and you'll turn into a small, insignificant Heartless."

"Answer my question!" he shouted, sending it echoing through the area.

Cloud paused for a moment, looking like he was contemplating, then suddenly said, "How about _no_?" He came forward with an immense attack a split second later, catching Sephiroth by surprise and sending him back. Cloud only had to use his wing to fly behind and jab him a good one in the back, causing Sephiroth's spine to crack. As he felt himself fall to the ground, only then did he realize how ruthless Cloud had become.

Ray managed to find her way through the blinding light halls. She spotted a room that was dark at the other end of the hall she had wandered into, her eyes finally beginning to take focus. When they did, she saw herself looking out into a hall, standing on the steps as a battle took place. In one moment she knew that Sephiroth had no chance, and in the other Cloud had become just as much as a ruthless, merciless tormenter as Sephiroth had ever been. Neither deserved this, and she had to do something. But she was so weak, her heart beginning to ache even worse as the minutes went on. She was afraid the darkness was starting to take its toll. This was one thing she didn't tell him, finding it of no relevance, but if the darkness must go somewhere, it would go nowhere else but where it had been stored. Thus the darkness from before did not leave her, but only was suspended by the hearts her family was giving her. Eventually she would turn into Heartless, but not before she would do something now.

As Sephiroth was knocked into a dark corner, Cloud began to walk forward, wanting it to be the final blow. But it wouldn't be, for yet again did Sephiroth stand. Somehow he seemed more willing to give up, but knowing Sephiroth, this must've been a trick of some sort.

"Alright, I give up...You win..." Sephiroth stated, wiping the blood from his lip.

"...I don't believe you," Cloud said smartly.

"You don't? That's a real shame," he answered. He spread out his hands to his sides, seeming like he would call upon an attack, but did no such thing. "Hit me."

"What?"

"Go ahead, I give you a free shot, considering your weakness. Go ahead and kill me if you so see fit. But before I may disappear from this world I must ask you one simple question. How does it feel?"

"What are you talking about?!" he yelled.

"You know what I said, now answer the question!" he shouted back.

"I don't understand the relevance-"

"Does it matter?! If it surely doesn't then kill me, here and now! Seek your revenge and let us all rest in peace, Strife!"

Cloud became frustrated, not understanding what he meant but that thin line keeping him thinking broke, sending him charging forward and at Sephiroth. He stopped, however, when he heard her voice from the side.

"Cloud, stop! What are doing?! I thought you said you weren't going to-" Aeris stopped when Cloud looked over his shoulder, giving the indication that anything he had said before was now void. Looking back, he saw Sephiroth was still standing there, taking no second thoughts before he lunged the Buster Sword straight into him.

"How does it feel, Cloud?" Cloud. _Cloud_. That one name told him something was wrong with this, knowing that Sephiroth would never use only his first name. Suddenly, the skin began to melt from what appeared to be Sephiroth at first, but became someone completely different. It was the Heartless named Ray, continuing in a choked voice as blood began to drip down the side of her mouth. "How does it feel...to be blinded by hate?" In this she slumped to the floor, Cloud pulled the sword from her. Seeing a figure standing there, they both turned their heads to find it was Sephiroth, still alive and staring down at the coughing Ray, becoming the way she looked.

Cold, lifeless, dead.

Cloud stood there, his eyes wide in shock. "What have I done...?"

"You have become...what Sephiroth once was...You...You were blinded by your hate...and with it...destroyed things that did not need to be..." Ray spoke, slowly and in more of a hiss than anything else. "I guess...your even now...right...? No more...hurt...?"

Cloud nodded, trying to be sympathetic. Aeris came over to him, pulling on his arm with a sad look in her eyes. Cloud apologized over and over, and yet it still didn't seem like it was enough. He left with Aeris that day, and never again was to be seen in revenge of anything.

Sephiroth walked over, disbelief striking him. She chuckled, shaking her head as she sat up slowly. "I do not want you to pity me Sephiroth. I did this on my own account."

"I don't question that. The thing I don't understand is..._why_? Why would you give your life?"

"I wanted to save you. Cloud and you both. If Cloud remained the way he was he would be bound to become like you were, filled with hatred even after your defeat. If you died, then what was the use of giving my heart only to become a Heartless?"

"What? What are you saying? That even if you had lived you would've become a Heartless?!"

She nodded. "Eventually I would have been Heartless, whether or not if I had given my heart or not. I will still become one, even now. So I guess it was best to at least save one poor soul. Which reminds me." She began to sink into the floor, continuing. "Meet me at the edge of the Rising Falls. I want to give you something." With this she disappeared, Sephiroth striding out to where he was to meet her.

In a matter of minutes he was there, but she was already waiting for him. The Falls echoed in a thunderous boom, but she managed to stand at the entrance gates with a lift leading up to the castle. She faced the quickly moving current as he flew next to her, holding something in her hands. When he landed, he didn't even get a word in before she shoved the last of her heart into his chest, ripping out the darkness and placing it within her. It took her a moment to recuperate, but shrugged it off when she spoke.

"There, that should do it. Your black heart should be about gone by now, either that or the majority of the heart will consume it."

"Where will you go?" he asked.

"I don't know. Probably become a Heartless and spend my emotionless days here. Why, what do you care?" she said coldly.

"I was only wondering."

There was a long moment of silence between them, the blood from her wound now beginning to drip onto the ground.

"Say Sephiroth?" she said, getting his attention. "You mind if I come by once in a while? Though I probably won't remember much, I might be able to remember you."

"Yeah, alright. At least you won't be annoying company like my servants mostly are. I'll keep that in mind the next time I see a Heartless in my quarters."

"And Sephiroth?"

"Yes?"

"Where do you go? When you die, I mean?"

"Supposedly a place called Lifestream, merging back with the planet whence you came."

"Is it nice there?"

"I suppose so, of course I've never been there myself."

She smiled fully for the first, and the last, time in her life. "Maybe I'll go there some day."

"One can only hope..."

Ray turned towards him, waved, and then began to run. Sephiroth was surprised by this, but did not stop her. Instead, Ray jumped off, spreading her arms out as the light in her heart flickered and faded, her being doing the same. She didn't even hit the water before she disappeared, fading into darkness as her family had done before her...

***

Sitting there in his quiet room, a swift breeze flew through the window, making the papers he had been writing flying across the room. He cursed under his breath, knowing that he would have to rearrange them once again from the scatter they now were in on the floor. He didn't bother to go and pick them up, for if he did they'd just go flying away again. Staring out the window, he witnessed the sun going down from the sandstone walls of the Coliseum. He pulled back from the desk, standing and walking over to the bed. Kicking off his boots, he lied down, sighing a deep breath while looking at the ceiling. In the fading light, shadows began to creep upon the walls, but he was not afraid. Instead, he welcomed them, knowing they would not harm him. They knew of his past, respected it, and gave him his peace when he needed it.

One brave shadow emerged from the floor, staring up at him with glowing yellow eyes. Just by its presence Sephiroth knew who it was, smiling and tapping it on the head. It squeaked like it was a laugh, hopping up and down shortly.

"Hello Ray. How's life been?" The Heartless, like all others, did not answer, but probably would have if it could. Putting his hands behind his head, he yawned, shutting his eyes. The Heartless squeaked a laugh again, taking its stubbly little arm and waving slightly. This was the only goodnight they ever gave, but it was enough for him. Just like a brother they were friends with him, and they always would be until the day he, too, perished from the worlds. But until that day, they would always try to say for him to get some sleep, (for that was the reason why they came by), and that tomorrow might be good...

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A/N yes, that's the last chapter. Ser, it's got somewhat of a medium ending! Don't complain, tho, because no one cared to review except belldandy, (and only they have the right to nag!...But even then please don't be too mean ^_^') If you want me to write an alternate ending then I will, but besides that I hoped you at least liked it somewhat and please review!


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